[12/13/05 - 12:00 AM]Primetime Ratings Report for the Week of December 5-11, 2005

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report For the week of December 5-11, 2005

During the First Week of December, ABC Takes Second Place in Viewers and Key Adults, Placing Either First or Second in Adults 18-49 on 5 of 7 Nights

12 Weeks into the Season, ABC is up the Most in Viewers and Adults 18-49,
As its Regular Entertainment Series Boost Increases Over Last Season

ABC Airs 4 Programs Among the Week�s Top 15 in Adults 18-49

ABC Tops Monday Evening Among Viewers and All Adult Demos,
The No. 1 Net on the Night in Adults 18-49 on 13 of the Last 14 Weeks

On its 40th Anniversary, �A Charlie Brown Christmas� Wins Tuesday at 8pm
Across the Board, with its Strongest Performance Ever on ABC, while Generating the
Net�s Highest Non-Sports Viewer and Young Adult Numbers in the Hour in 2 Years

ABC Takes Top Honors on Wednesday Evening Among Adults 18-49

�George Lopez� Produces its Strongest Adult 18-49 Number in 6 Weeks

Opposite Original Competition, ABC�s Repeat �Lost� Dominates Wednesday from
9-10pm in Viewers and Young Adults, the No. 1 TV Show of the Night in Adults 18-49

In its New Wednesday Slot, ABC�s �Alias� Delivers a Season High in Adults 18-49

On Saturday, �Dr. Seuss� How the Grinch Stole Christmas� Marks ABC�s Strongest
Numbers in its Time Period This Season in Adults 18-34, Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11

Building on its Lead-in, ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� Wins Sunday from 10-11pm
In Young Adults, Beating Out CBS� Coverage of the �Survivor� Season Finale

WEEK No. 12:

During the week of December, 5, 2005, the first full week outside of the 2005 November Sweep, ABC earned second place in viewers (9.6 million) and in each of the adult demographics: AD18-34 (2.8/9-tie), AD18-49 (3.4/9) and AD25-54 (3.9/9). Showing competitive balance, although some of its major series were in repeat, ABC took either first or second place on 5 of 7 nights of the week in the key Adult 18-49 sales demo (No. 1 on Monday & Wednesday and No. 2 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday).

Disney-owned ABC stood as the No. 1 broadcaster for the week among Kids 2-11 (2.3/9), delivering its highest-rated week among kids in nearly 3 years � since the w/o 1/20/03.

� So far this season (12 complete weeks), ABC is the only network to grow its Adult 18-49 audience from the same point a year ago (+5% - 4.1/11 vs. 3.9/10). Each of the other broadcasters are either down (CBS, NBC, Fox and WB) or flat (UPN) in the key young adult demographic. ABC is also up 7% among Total Viewers (11.0 million vs. 10.3 million), representing the biggest increase among the networks from the same point last season. In fact, ABC�s year-to-year gains are being driven by its success with regular entertainment series, where the Net has seen its numbers grow by 14% in Total Viewers (11.6 million vs. 10.2 million) and by 13% in Adults 18-49 (4.5/12 vs. 4.0/10), as compared to the same point year ago.

Rankings: ABC aired 4 of the week�s Top 15 television programs among Adults 18-49: �Grey�s Anatomy� � No. 3, �NFL Monday Night Football� � No. 9, �A Charlie Brown Christmas� � No. 12 and �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� � No. 13. ABC�s telecasts of �Grey�s Anatomy� (No. 7) and �A Charlie Brown Christmas� (No. 8) each finished the week among the week�s Top 10 most-watched shows. Although its regular lead-in was pre-empted (�Desperate Housewives�) and it competed directly with the season finale of CBS� �Survivor: Guatemala� in its time period, ABC�s �Grey�s Anatomy� qualified as the No. 2 TV program during with week among Adults 18-34, Women 18-49 and Women 18-34, behind only CBS� Thursday night �C.S.I.� ABC claimed the Top 3 broadcast television programs for the week among Kids 2-11, with �A Charlie Brown Christmas,� �I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown� and �Dr. Seuss� How the Grinch Stole Christmas,� respectively.

Monday

ABC was the No. 1 network on Monday evening among Total Viewers (13.7 million) and in each of the adult demographics: AD18-34 (4.3/13), AD18-49 (5.1/13) and AD25-54 (5.8/14). ABC has ranked No. 1 on Monday evening among Adults 18-49 on 13 of the last 14 weeks, including 6 consecutive weeks.

�Wife Swap� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC�s repeat telecast of �Wife Swap� earned second place in its time period among Adults 18-49 (2.8/8). The show ranked No. 1 among Kids 2-11 (1.2/5).

� �Wife Swap� continues to bring ABC substantial improvement to the time period. Compared to ABC�s delivery last season in the slot with regular programming during the run of �Monday Night Football,� �Wife Swap� has grown the hour for the Network by 2.8 million viewers (7.6 million vs. 4.8 million) and by 88% in Adults 18-49 (3.0/8 vs. 1.6/5).

�Monday Night Football: Seattle at Philadelphia� (9:07 � 11:57 p.m.)

ABC�s telecast of the �NFL Monday Night Football� game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles drew an average audience of 15.1 million viewers and a 5.7 rating, 15 share among Adults 18-49. The game was a blow-out, with Seattle leading by 35-0 at halftime and winning the game by a score of 42-0.

� ABC�s �MNF� ranked as the No. 1 TV show of the evening among all key adult demographics: AD18-34 (5.0/14), AD 18-49 (5.7/15) and AD25-54 (6.4/15).

Tuesday

�A Charlie Brown Christmas� (8:00-9:01 p.m.)

On the show�s 40th Anniversary, ABC�s annual rebroadcast of �A Charlie Brown Christmas� won its hour in Total Viewers (15.3 million), across all key adult demographics (Adults 18-34 � 4.3/13, Adults 18-49 � 5.5/15 and Adults 25-54 � 6.4/15), Teens 12-17 (3.0/10) and Kids 2-11 (7.5/23). In fact the 1965 animated PEANUTS special topped its nearest competition in the time period by 1.3 million viewers and by 67% in Adults 18-49 (CBS = 14.0 million viewers & 3.3/9 in Adults 18-49).

� �A Charlie Brown Christmas� delivered its best numbers ever on ABC among viewers, in the adult demos and among kids � it has been airing on the Net since 2001. The show surpassed its previous highs on ABC by 1.6 million viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49 (13.7 million & 4.8/13 on 12/7/04).

� �A Charlie Brown Christmas� posted ABC�s largest non-sports audience and top Adult 18-49 number in the time period in over 2 years � since 11/4/03. In addition, ABC saw its best Kids 2-11 rating in the hour in over 4 years � since 10/30/01.

ABC�s �George Lopez� outdrew its comedy competition in the time period, �That �70s Show,� by 1.3 million viewers (8.1 million vs. 6.8 million).

� �George Lopez� produced its top Adult 18-49 number (2.9/8) in 6 weeks � since 10/26/05.

�Freddie� (8:30-9:00 p.m.)

Building on its lead-in by 7% among young adults, ABC�s �Freddie� beat Fox�s comedy �Stacked� at 8:30pm by 2.3 million viewers (7.4 million vs. 5.1 million) and by 41% among Adults 18-49 (3.1/8 vs. 2.2/6).

� �Freddie� has built on its lead-in across the adult demographics on all 8 of the series� telecasts: AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54.

�Lost� (9:00-10:00 p.m.)

Although it faced original competition in the 9 o�clock hour, ABC�s �Lost� replay beat second-place Fox by 3.5 million viewers (11.0 million vs. 7.5 million) and by 21% in Adults 18-49 (4.1/10 vs. 3.4/8 � Fox�s �Trading Spouses�). In fact, the encore telecast of �Lost� stood as Wednesday�s No. 1 TV show among Adults 18-49.

� �Lost� was up from its most recent rebroadcast airing by 2.7 million viewers and by 28% in Adults 18-49 (8.3 million & 3.2/8 on 11/2/05).

�Alias� (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

In its new time period, ABC�s �Alias� posted a season-high rating among Adults 18-49 (2.6/7).

Friday

ABC took second place on Friday night among Adults 18-49 (2.2/7).

�I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown� (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC�s rebroadcast of �I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown� drew an average audience of 8.9 million viewers and a 2.5 rating, 8 share among Adults 18-49, finishing second in the hour in both measures. The animated special drew the Net�s highest Total Viewer count in the hour in 10 months � since 2/25/05.

� Delivering its best performance ever among Kids 2-11 (5.3/16), �I Want a Dog a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown� won its hour and stood as the top-ranked network show of the evening in the Kid 2-11 demo.

The �ABC Saturday Movie of the Week, �How the Grinch Stole Christmas�� won it time period among Adults 18-34 (2.4/9), Teens 12-17 (2.4/9) and Kids 2-11 (3.9/15). In addition, the 2000 theatrical delivered ABC�s highest ratings in the time period this season in all three Nielsen measures.

Sunday

Competing against the season finale of CBS� �Survivor: Guatemala� during primetime, ABC delivered a solid second place on the night in Total Viewers (12.7 million) and Adults 18-49 (5.0/12), and ranked No. 1 on the evening among Women 18-34 (6.2/16) and Kids 2-11 (2.9/10). Despite facing an NFL football overrun and the season closer of �Survivor,� both on CBS, ABC gained audience during each half-hour of primetime, ranking No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 by 10:30 p.m.

�Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� (8:00-10:00 p.m.)

From 8:00-10:00 p.m., ABC�s �Extreme Makeover: Home Edition� drew an average audience of 13.0 million viewers and earned a 5.0/11 in Adults 18-49 during its 2-hour time period. The show earned second place to the �Survivor� finale in the time period in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, while the broad based unscripted show won its slot with Women 18-34 (6.5/16) and Kids 2-11 (3.6/12).

� From its first half-hour to its final half-hour, �Home Edition� saw its audience surge by 3.2 million viewers (11.3 million to 14.5 million) and by 44% in Adults 18-49 (4.1/10 to 5.9/13).

� �Grey�s Anatomy� increased its Total Viewer (15.4 million to 16.0 million) and Adults 18-49 audience (7.0/16 to 7.3/17) from beginning to end, finishing out the night (10:30-11:00 p.m.) in the No. 1 position on both Nielsen measures.